COVID-19 Risk Perceptions and Health Behaviors in Puerto Rico

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Preventative health behaviors were encouraged for all at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as the pandemic continued after 2020, some people stopped implementing all measures. It is unknown if people living in Puerto Rico continued to perform preventive health behaviors throughout the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to explore if the risk perceptions of COVID-19 were associated with preventative health behaviors among Puerto Ricans during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample from Puerto Rico (N = 285) was recruited from January to March 2021 to participate in a cross-sectional, online survey about health behaviors and risk perceptions of COVID-19. Demographics were reported, and a multivariate logistic regression explored the relationships between health behaviors (e.g., handwashing, staying at home, and not allowing visitors) and fear of COVID-19 (outcome variable) and risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 (outcome variable). Those who reported that they washed their hands more often than usual were more likely (adjusted odds ratios = 6.93) to indicate that they were afraid of COVID-19 compared with those who were not performing this behavior. Also, those who reported not leaving their home as much and who did not receive visitors into their house as much as they did before the pandemic were 2.49 and 2.89 times as likely to report being afraid of the virus, respectively, as their counterparts. Although fear may not effectively change all behaviors, it may encourage Puerto Rican adults to practice healthy behaviors that will prevent the spread of COVID-19.